Coiling apparatus



' s sheets-sheet 1 Sept., l0, 1946. J. A. WAGNER COILING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 11, 1945 swt' 10 1946- J. A. WAGNER 2,407,353 i coILING`APPARATUs Filed Jan. 1l, 1945 L 3' Sheets-Sheet 2 WVM/raf?, J. A. Mami/P l A Tram/fr Sept l0, 1946. J. A. WAGNER 2,407,353

' y COILING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 11, 1945 s sheets-sheet s v Patented Sept. 10,v 1946 corLING APPARATUS Julius A. Wagner, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 11, 1945, Serial No. 572,417

14 claims. 1 r

This invention relates to a coiling apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for selectively coiling lengths of cordage.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and effective apparatus for coiling lengths of exible material. l

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention,.an apparatus is provided for coiling multi-conductor cordage in coils of lengths determined by the distance between points where the conductors extend in loops through the covering on the cordage, In this apparatus, an angularly disposed nozzle rotates above a receptacle having a movable bottom, in sucha manner as to lay a coil of cordage on the bottom ofthe receptacle and mechanism is provided for withdrawing the bottom of the receptacle each time the projectingloops of conductors pass a predetermined point in the apparatus.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to `the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section,of a cordage processing machine and showing the'mechanism for ooiling cordage and delivering coils,.the`reof, to a processing machine;A

on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along the line 2-'2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig..l in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is an irregular plan sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of' Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows, parts being broken away to conserve space;

' Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View of the gearing which cooperates to feed the cordage; and

. Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram of a control circuit for the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate the same parts throughout the several views, particular reference being first had to Fig. 1 wherein there is shown a turret bearing post I which constitutes the main'bearing for a turret assambly of a processing machine which maybe of'. the type disclosed in the copending application of R. T. Adams and J. A. Wagner, Serial No'.v 572,414 led January 1l, 1945. lThe turret assembly |I comprises a driving gear |2, adapted to be driven in timed relation to the various operations of the processing machine, and having xed to it a cord coil supporting table I3. Fixed to the stationary bearing post I0 is an annular support member I4 having suitably attached to it a housing base I5 on which there is in turn mounted a housing I6.

The housing I6 has a motor I1 suitably mounted therein and connected to a gear reducer I8 for driving a pulley I9. The pulley I9 is adapted to drive a belt 23 which in turn drives the driving element 2| of a clutch assembly designated generally by the numeral 22 (Fig- 3). The driving element 2| is freely rotatable on a shaft 23 and may be clutched to the shaft by clutch discs 24 surrounding the shaft 23 and seated in a nest 25 in the driving element 2| when pressure is applied to the fdiscs 24. Pressure maybe applied to the discs24 by a sleeve 26 having a pair of shoulders 21 and 28 formedon it forv receiving clutch operating rollers 29 mounted upon opposite arms of a clutch lever 30 when the lever3il is in one of its operating positions. The shaft 23 is journalled in a bearing block 3| and in a tubular portion 32 of the driving element 2 I. The clutch lever 30 will apply pressure` to brake discs 33 surrounding'the shaft 23 andk seated in a nest 34 lin the bearing-block 3| in its other operating (position, and thus when the clutch lever 30 `is yrocked clockwise, Afrom Athe position .shown in Fig, 3, it will cause the driving element 2Il.to be connected to the shaft 23 and when .the clutch lever 30 is rocked .to the position shown in Fig. 3, it will brake the shaft y23 against the bearing block 3|. The tubular portion 32 of the driving element 2| is journalled in a bearing sleeve 35 attached to the housing |6. Y

The clutch lever 30`is xedto a shaft 36l journalled in vertically disposedV portions yof the housing I6. At its upper end, as shown in Fig. 1, the shaft 3S has a lever 31 fixed to it for normally urging the shaft 36 to rock in a clockwise direction underthe action of a Acontractile spring 38. The spring 38 is mounted in a solenoid housing 39 into which the lever 31 extends and the lever 31 may be moved to rock the shaft counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 3 by a solenoid coil 40 (Fig. 6) also mounted in the solenoid housing 33. The housing 39 is suitably positioned on the housing |6and a second solenoid housing 4| is also mounted upon the housing I6. The housing 4| has a solenoid coil 42 mounted in it adapted to actuate a core member 43. The core-member v43 has a link 44 attached to it and'to a bell crank lever 45 mounted upon apivot pin 46. The pivot pin 46v is carried by a bracket 41 in which there is slidably mounted a plunger 48 (Fig. 4) Formed on the left end of the plunger 99, as shown most clearly in Fig. s, is a double sided rack #le which is urged to the right (Figs. 1 and 4) by a cornpression spring 59 seated against a shoulder El formed in the bracket Lil. The compression spring 99 surrounds the shank of the plunger i9 and, in addition to bearing against 'shoulderr 9i, bears against a collar 52 on the plunger thus to urge the plunger 98 into engagement with the vertically extending arm of the bell crank lever 59. Meshing with the rack 99 are a pair of gears 53 and 59 suitably fixed to the upper ends or stud shafts t9 and respectively, which are journalled for rotation in a bearing portion 5l of the` bracket 4i and have fixed to their lower ends a pair of levers 59 and 59. Formed integrally with the levers 59 and 59 or suitably attached to them are a pair of closure plates 99 and 9i which coo erate to serve as the bottom of a coil receptacle 99 which comprises, in addition to the H The housing` I6 is irregularly shaped, as shown in Fig. 3, and has a gear case 15 mounted on it which serves to enclose the driving gears for the mechanism which feeds coils into the coil receptacle 92. These driving gears comprise a gear 16 (Figs. 3 and 5) fixed to the shaft 23 and meshf;

ing with a pinion 11 mounted upon a stud shaft i8 suitably journalled in the housing i6 and having keyed thereto a pinion 'i9 and a worm gear S9. The pinion 19 meshes with and drives a gear 8| fixed to a Istud shaft 92 and carrying a spur gear 33 which in turn meshes with a spur gear 84 on a stud shaft 85. The stud shafts 82 and 85 have keyed to them a pair of feed rollers 85 and 91, respectively, having soft rubber tires and 99, respectively, for engaging and feeding cordage 99. The shafts 82 and 85 are mounted in bearing blocks 9| and 92 suitably attached to the'housing I5 and gear case 15 in position to support the drive rollers 89 and 81, in .position to feed cordage 99. The cordage 99 fed by the rollers 89 and 91 vis withdrawn from a supply (not shown) and passes over 'a guide pulley 99 (Figs. 1 and 2) journalled for free rotation on a bracket 94. The bracket 94, in addition to supporting the pulley 93, also supports a trigger mechanism designated by the numeral 95 and so positions the pulley 93 that 'cordage 99 fed over the pulley will be directed into a funnel-shaped guide member 96 having a pair of wings .9L-91 as shown in Fig.

1, for guarding the upper surface of the feed rolll.

ers S9 and 81. The guide member 99 is cut away as shown at 98 (Fig. 2) to permit the entry therein of a trigger 99. The left end (Fig. 2) of the trigger 99 is bifurcated to receive the cordage 99 between its tines and is pivoted on a pivot pin |99 and urged to rock clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 2 by a spring pressed plunger I9! seated in a socket |92 formed in the bracket 99 and urged to the left (Fig. 2) by a compression spring |93. Movement of the trigger 99 clockwise beyond the position in Fig. 2 is blocked by a surface of the housing of a switch |94.

As is shown most clearly in Fig. l, the cordage 99 has conductors |95|95 thrown out through its covering at intervals and when a group of these extending conductors engage the trigger 99 they will rock the trigger counter-clockwise against the action of the spring |93 thus to actuate the switch |94. As shown most clearly in Fig. 6 the switch |94 has an actuator plunger |99, which upon movement of the trigger 99 in a counter-clockwise direction (Figd 2) will shift a contact member |91 into engagement with a contact |98. The Contact member B91 is normally urged to an inoperative position (opposite to that shown in Fig. 6) by a spring I 99 and will be locked Vin its operated position by an armature ||9 of a relay III, a camming projection II2 on the armature |I9 serving to hold the contact member |91 in its operated position until the relay is energized. The contact member |91 upon engaging the contact I 99 will complete a circuit from a current source I i3 to energize the solenoid coils 49 and 42, and will hold the solenoid coils energized until the relay I |I is operated under control of a switch I I4.

The worm gear 89 on the shaft 18 meshes with a worm gear |29 which is mounted upon a nozzle member I2! by means of a locking ring |22. The nozzle member I2I is freely rotatable in bearings |23 which are held in the housing I9 by a retainer ring |24 and which cooperate with an upper bearing member |25 to position the nozzle member I2| inthe path of Ycordage 99 fed downwardly by the feed rollers 89 and 87|. Operation of the feed rollers 99 and 81 and the nozzle member I2| will be initiated each time a switch actuator |29 mounted upon the cord coil 'sup-V porting table I3 passes the switch ||4 due to the engagement of the switch kactuator |26 with a plunger |21 of the switch I Ill.

In the operation of the apparatus cordage 99 may be withdrawn from a suitable supply (not shown) and directed over the guide pulley 93 and thence down between the feed rollers 86 and 81 and through the nozzle member I2I to prepare the apparatus for operation. As soon as current is supplied to the motor l1 the feed rollers 86 and 81wi11 feed the cordage downwardly into the nozzle member I2I due to the fact that with the circuit in the condition shown in Fig. 6 the solenoid coil 49 is de-energized. The cordage drawn over the pulley 93 by the feed rollers 85 and 81 will continue to feed through the nozzle member |2| which will be rotated through the gearing including the worm gears 89 and |29 at all times that the feed rollers 99 and 81 are driven. Since the motor I1 operates continuously,- the feeding of cordage will continue until solenoid 42 is energized to release the clutch discs 24 and-to permit spring 38 to apply pressure to the brake discs 93. The shaft 23 will therefore continue to be driven, and, through the gearing in the gear case 15 will continue to drive the feed rollers 86 and 81 until looped out conductors |95 of 'the cordage 99 engages the trigger 99 thus to operate switch |94. When switch |94 is operated to engage contact member |91 with contact |98 it will be locked in its operated position by the arma ture ||9 and due to the completion of a circuit through the contacts of switch |94 the solenoid lcoils 49 and 42 will be energized. Energization of the coil L39 will render the clutch discs 24 ineffective and will render the brake discs 33 eifecrtive thus to 'stop rotation of the shaft 23 and 'stop the operation of the feed rollers 88 and 91 and nozzle member 2 Simultaneously with the stopping of the feeding of cordage, solenoid 42 will be operated to attract its core member 43 and through the link 44 to rock the bell crank lever counter-clockwise (Fig. 1). When the'lever 45 is rocked counter-clockwise the plunger 48 will beL moved to the left (Figs. 1 and 4) and through the operation of the double sided rack 49 will rotatethe shafts and 56 in opposite directions .to swing the closure plates and 6| out from operative until the table I?. carries a switch. ac-

tuator |26 into engagement with the plunger I21 whereupon switch IIA will be operated to supply current to relay III and thus. attract armature IIO and release contact member |01. Whenthe .contact member |01 is released, the spring |09 will retract it to the position shown in Fig. 6 and the circuit to the solenoid coils 40 and 42 Willbe broken, thus to reinitiate a feeding cycle for the cordage. When the ysolenoid coil 40 is de-energized the shaft 36 will be swung to its clockwise position (Fig. 3) by theY contractile spring 38, thus to apply pressure to the clutch discs 24 and interconnect the motor I1 and the shaft 23. De-energization of the solenoid coil 42 will permit the spring 50 to return the plunger 48 to its normal position thus moving vthe closure plates 60 and 6I back under the coil receptacle 62 in position to receive the cordage laid into the coil receptacle by the nozzle member I2I. The cordage 90 will extend through the bottom of the receptacle 62 1 being clamped by the gaskets 65 on the abutting faces o f the closure members 60 and 6I, and thus as the table I3 continues its rotation some cordage may be withdrawn from the previously formed coil laying on the table I3 during the formation of a succeeding coil in the receptacle 62.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for delivering coils of cordage to a processing machine comprising means for withdrawing cordage from a supply thereof, means for coiling the cordage withdrawn from the supply, means associated with the coiling means for receiving the coils, and means under control of the cordage for causing the receiving means to discharge a coil onto the processing machine.

2. An apparatus for delivering coils of cordage to a processing machine comprising means for withdrawing cordage from a supply thereof, means for coiling the cordage withdrawn from the supply, means having a movable bottom for receiving the coils from the coiling means, and means under control of the cordage for moving said bottom to discharge a coil from the coil receiving means. l

3. An apparatus for delivering coils of cordage to a processing machine comprising means for withdrawing cordage from a supply i thereof, means for coiling the cordage withdrawn' from the supply, means associated with the coiling means for receiving the coils, means under control of the cordage for causing the receiving means to discharge a coil onto the processing machine, and means under control of the processing machine for initiating operation of the coiling means.

4. An apparatus for delivering coils of cordage to a processing machine comprisingmeans for withdrawing cordage from a supply thereof, means for coiling the cordage withdrawn from the supply, means associated with the coiling means .for receiving .the coils, means under control of the' cordagefor causing the receiving means to Adischarge acoil onto the processing machine, and -means :under control of the processing machine for restoring the receiving means to condition to .receive a coil. 1.

5. An apparatus for forming coils in a continuous length of flexible material comprising a coil -supporting table, a. coil receptacle positioned to discharge a coil onto said table, .a coiling nozzle for. forming a coil in said receptacle, means for -feeding material to said. coiling nozzle, and means .controlled by the material for interrupting operation of the material feeding means and the `coiling nozzle.kk

6. An apparatus for forming coils in a contininous length of flexible material comprising a coil supporting table, a coil receptacle positioned to discharge al coil onto said table, a coiling nozzle for forming a coil in said receptacle, means for feeding material to said coiling nozzle, means controlled lby the material for interrupting opera- .tionof the material feeding means and the coil- .ing nozzle, and means on the coil supporting table for initiating operation of the feeding means and coiling nozzle.

7. An apparatus for forming coils in a continuous length of flexible material comprising a coil vsupporting table, a coil receptaclepositioned to discharge a coil onto-said table, va coiling nozzle extending into said receptacle and operative to lay a coil of material in said receptacle, means for feeding material to said coiling nozzle, and means controlled by the material for interrupting operation of the material feeding means and coiling nozzle. Y p

8. An apparatus for forming coils in a continuous/length of flexible material comprising a movable coil supporting table, a coil receptacle positioned adjacent the path of movement of said table to discharge coils onto said table, means cooperating with said receptacle to lair material in a coil in the receptacle, means con- 5 trolled by the material for interrupting operation of the coil forming means, and means on said table for intermittently initiating operation of the means cooperating with the receptacle to lay a coil therein.

9. A device for coiling multi-conductor cords having the conductors projecting in loops therefrom at regular intervals which comprises a receptacle having a. movable bottom therein, an angularly disposed nozzle positioned to direct cordage into said receptacle, means for rotating the nozzle to lay the cordage in a coil on the bottom of the receptacle, means for feeding cordage to said nozzle, and a trigger positioned to be engaged by the loops of conductors for causing the bottom of the receptacle to be withdrawn when a predetermined length of cordage has been coiled therein.

10. An apparatus for forming coils in multiconductor cordage having the conductors extending from the cordage in loops at intervals comprising a receptacle having a movable bottom, a nozzle rotatably movable with respect to said receptacle to lay a coil of cordage therein, means for feeding cordage to the nozzle, and means positioned to be engaged and operated by the loops of conductors as the cordage is fed by the feeding means for controlling the operation'of the movable bottom, feeding means and nozzle.

11. An apparatus for forming coils in multiconductor cordage having the conductors extending from the cordage in loops at intervals comprising a receptacle havingr a movable bottom, a nozzle rotatably movable with respect to said receptacle to lay a coil of cordage therein, `means for feeding cordage to the nozzle, a common driving means for the nozzle and feeding means, and means operated by a loop extending from the cordage for interrupting operation of the driv- .ing means.

l2. An apparatus for :forming coils in multiconductor cordage having the -conductors extending in loops from the cordage at interval-s comprising a receptacle, a nozzle rotatablewith respect to the receptacle to coil cordage therein, means for feeding cordage to the nozzle, means cooperating with said receptacle `to discharge a coil from the receptacle, a trigger positioned to be actuated by the loops extending from the cordage, and means under control of the trigger for interrupting operation fol the .feeding lmean's and nozzle and ior initiating operation of the discharging means.

13. An apparatus for forming coils .in .multiconducto'r cordage having the conductors extending Ain loops Vfrom the 'cordage at intervals 'comprising a receptacle, Aa nozzle rotatable with Srespect to the receptacle to coil cordage therein, means for feeding cordage to the nozzle, means cooperating with said .receptacle to discharge a coil from the receptacle, a trigger positioned to be actuated bythe loops extending .from the 'cord- 8 age, means under control of the trigger for interrupting operation of the feeding means and nozzle and for initiating operation of the dis- -chargingmeans a control circuit operable under control of said trigger to eiect the interruption of operation of the feeding means and nozzle, and means associated with said control circuit for intermittently initiating operation of said feeding .means and nozzle.

14. An apparatus `for forming coils in multiconductor cordage having the conductors extend- `ing in loops from the cordage `at intervals comprising va receptacle, a nozzle rotatable with respect; to the receptacle to coil cordage therein, means for feeding vcordage to the nozzle, meam cooperating with said receptacle to discharge a coi-1 from the receptacle, a trigger positioned to .be lactuated by the loops extending from the cordage, means under control yof the trigger for yinterrupting operation of the feeding means and nozzle and for initiating operation 'of the discharging means, a control circuit operable under Vcontrol of said trigger to effect the interruption of operation of the feeding means and nozzle, and ymeans associated with said control circuit for intermittently initiating .operation of said `feeding means and nozzle, said control circuit also including 4means for restoring the discharging means to unoperated condition.

`JULIUS A. WAGNER. 

